


Of Roses and Rings

by Llama1412



Category: Doctor Who (2005), Torchwood
Genre: F/M, M/M, Multi
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2011-06-17
Updated: 2011-06-17
Packaged: 2021-03-01 18:15:11
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 508
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23501431
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Llama1412/pseuds/Llama1412
Summary: Jack, stuck outside of his own time, finds a reminder of what he's lost.
Relationships: Jack Harkness/Rose Tyler, Ninth Doctor/Jack Harkness, Ninth Doctor/Jack Harkness/Rose Tyler, Ninth Doctor/Rose Tyler
Comments: 2
Kudos: 12





	Of Roses and Rings

**Author's Note:**

> Originally posted to livejournal and whofic.com in 2011. Posted unedited.

Jack had never been fond of shopping. In his time, there had been no hassle to it. All he'd had to do was press the right buttons and he'd be presented with whatever it was he needed exactly when he needed it. There was no point in shopping for things beforehand, not in the fifty-first century. Even as he traveled to other time periods, there still wasn't a need. His ship was fully stocked and the wonders of technology left acquiring supplies in somebody else's hands.

But that was then. Now, he was stuck in this primitive era on a planet that wouldn't achieve space travel for another three or so centuries. That was three centuries without a way off of this rock, without a way to get back to the luxuries of the future.

How exactly he'd found himself shopping in a posh Victorian market, he wasn't sure, but he was definitely blaming it on the silly inconveniences of primitive life. Likewise, he was blaming that for finding himself absolutely captivated as he watched a goldsmith shape a perfect metal rose on a ring.

She would have loved it. She'd have stared at the people bustling around them with wonder and joy, and she'd have spotted the goldsmith during her inspection of every ware. She would've tugged on the Doctor's jacket, dragged him closer to the show, and watched in awe as the metalworker basked in his art.

_He_ would've loved it, too. He loved anything that made Rose happy. He loved the abandon with which she threw herself into a new situation, the way she adapted as well as she could to every obstacle they faced. He would've reached into his pockets, before realizing that he didn't carry any sort of currency. He'd have searched around them for a cash point before recalling with despair that this era didn't have any. He wouldn't have let that stop him. The ring would've made Rose happy, and the Doctor would've found a way to give it to her.

They weren't here now. They never would be. He'd never get the chance to see them smile softly at one another as the Doctor finally presented his trophy to her. He might never get to see either of them ever again. The Doctor's fantastic grin, Rose's tongue-curling smile... he'd never see those.

But what he _could_ do was remember them and cherish how they would've responded.

He walked away with the ring cradled carefully in a velvet cloth, his coin purse considerably lighter now. If he was still stuck here in a hundred years, he promised himself, he would find a way for Rose to get this ring. She wouldn't be able to see the artistic formation of the metal and she wouldn't get to have the Doctor bestow it upon her, but she could still have something.

The gift of his love might not be worth much compared to the Doctor, but it was the most he could do for the bubbly twenty-first century girl who'd changed his life.


End file.
